After appealing, José Mourinho’s suspension has been reduced by half, and his fine has also been significantly lowered.
José Mourinho has been in the headlines of Turkish football almost every day recently, and this news brings some relief for him. Following his appeal, the punishment for the Fenerbahçe coach was halved.
Mourinho’s four-match suspension has been reduced to two, and his financial fine has also been notably decreased. He was initially fined 16,17,000 Turkish Lira (approximately 44,000 USD), but now it has been reduced to 5,58,500 Turkish Lira.
The Turkish Football Federation granted this relief on Thursday following Mourinho’s comments after the 0-0 draw with Galatasaray last Monday. In their statement, the Federation explained that the punishment was due to Mourinho’s “disrespectful and aggressive” remarks toward the Turkish referee. The comments were deemed a breach of sports ethics, likely to incite violence and disorder, and to stir up excitement among the supporters.
After the match, Mourinho’s remarks sparked a lot of discussion within Turkish football. Allegations, counter-allegations, lawsuits, and counter-lawsuits have put the two rival clubs in a combative stance.
Due to the requests from both clubs, a foreign referee was appointed for the match. The game was officiated by Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić.
In the post-match press conference, Mourinho mentioned that he had gone to the referees’ room to meet them.
“I went to the referees’ dressing room after the match. The fourth referee was also there, who was Turkish. I told the main referee (Vinčić), ‘Thank you for coming here, because you came for a big match and did your job.’ Then I turned to the fourth referee and said, ‘If you had been the referee for this match, it would have been a disaster.’ When I said that, I was actually addressing the Turkish referees, making them understand their innate tendencies.”
There had been quite a bit of tension in the early stages of the match, particularly after Fenerbahçe’s 19-year-old defender Yusuf Akçicek made a challenge. The players from Galatasaray’s bench were visibly agitated at that moment. Mourinho praised referee Vinčić for not showing Akçicek a yellow card.
“I thanked the referee for this situation because if there had been a Turkish referee, in the first minute, the way one of their players dived, and the way their bench players were jumping around the young guy (Akçicek) like monkeys… If a Turkish referee had been there, he would have given a yellow card right away in the first minute, and five minutes later, I would have had to substitute him.”
Mourinho’s comments stirred a harsh reaction from Galatasaray on social media. The club announced that it would begin legal action against the 62-year-old Portuguese coach for making racist remarks. They later filed a lawsuit.
Fenerbahçe stood firmly by Mourinho from the start. In their statement, they claimed that his comments were distorted and taken out of context. They also issued a counter-statement saying they would take legal action against the unfounded accusations. Later, they also filed a lawsuit for “personal rights violations,” seeking 1,907,000 Turkish Lira in “moral compensation” from Galatasaray.
Fenerbahçe, founded in 1907, has a club emblem that also relates to this amount, which is why it was set to this figure.
Mourinho had previously been fined and suspended for making controversial comments about Turkish referees.
